City of Shadows
by luckycharms92
Summary: There has been an unusual increase in demon activity in the city of 'The Angels.' The Shadowhunters that reside within the institute of Los Angeles must figure out why before it is too late and the city is renamed Los Demonios.
1. Prologue

Prologue

The moon was hiding behind a few clouds along with the stars-not wanting to witness the terrible scene unfold below. Not a single soul within the city living along the small, dirty street looked out their window in fear of what they may see. Despite the screams and helpless cries of the young woman running down the street, no one would chance a glance out their window. If anything, everyone made sure their windows and curtains were securely shut and drawn.

Figuring that not a single person had the heart to take her in, the young woman stumbled down the smelly, small and ill-lit streets with tears blurring her vision. Her heart was hammering away in her chest, fear pulsing through her veins. Just then, her chest tightened when that inhumane growl reached her ears. Not looking back, she turned the corner into an even darker alleyway that ended in a dead end.

"No," she sobbed as she reached the rusted fence. There was no way she could climb it even if she tried, it was too high and she didn't have the strength to hoist herself up. "No, no, no." She grabbed the fence, shaking it violently, but it didn't simply fall over as she hoped it would. That growl reached her yet again, though she still refused to turn and look at it.

There was no need to look at the creature when its appearance was pretty was burned into her mind. There was no way in hell she could ever forget how it looked no matter how much she wanted to-what with its pinched face, dark stringy hair and pincers for hands instead of hands.

Closing her eyes, the young woman slowly slid down to her knees, her body slumping against the fence. Since there was no way of escaping, her only option was to give up all hope. Whatever it was was going to reach her in a matter of seconds and kill her without a moment of hesitation. She was going to die that night, no doubt about that…

That was until a bright blue light flooded the alleyway, forcing the young woman to close her eyes so that she wouldn't go blind. Slowly, she turned to at least catch a glimpse of what was going on only to see a tall figure dressed up all in black with a long, thin in blade in one hand.

Since when did angels dress in black?

That was the last thought that passed through her mind before the entire world turned black yet again.


	2. Chapter 1

The young woman stared blankly out of the double paned window in the wooden hallway. It was dimly lit with old fluorescent light fixtures, but the night life of Los Angeles was bright enough for her to see out the windows without any difficulty.

It wasn't that long ago when she was stuck in the filthy streets hidden away in the city, running for her life. A year has gone by, yet the image of that demon was still burned into the forefront of her mind. She could still hear its inhumane roar chasing after her; she felt a shiver pass through her.

If it had not been for the shadowhunters, she would not be standing there today. They had not only saved her, but they opened her eyes to the truth of the world.

Demons, warlocks, witches, faeries, vampires, and werewolves…how was this world still able to exist with such creatures running around? How were humans able to see the light of day with such horrors lurking in the shadows?

The answer was simple, now that she knew what it was-Shadowhunters.

Great warriors that prowled the night, saving mundanes from terrible fates so that they could live another day. It was how the young woman was able to live another day and many more after that. However, her mind was never at peace even with the idea of her adoptive family out there, keeping the streets safe from the mythological creatures.

Quickly turning away from the window, she rushed to the first room on the right. It was filled with flat screens from floor to ceiling. Images of the streets of Los Angeles flickered in front of her. To her right was the keyboard she invented to control the miniscule cameras she installed throughout the city. If it wasn't for her tech smarts, the young woman would have been utterly useless to the shadowhunters of the Institute since she refused to be a shadowhunter herself.

The young woman didn't want to train to become a shadowhunter since she knew she would never be able to do something like that, but she couldn't just do nothing when she knew what she knew. So, she figured out a way she could not only be helpful, but make the shadowhunters of Los Angeles more efficient in tracking the demons down.

And with the recent increase in demons prowling the streets, her monitors were more than welcomed by everyone.

Fiddling around with the keyboard, she let out a sigh of relief when the faces of her adoptive family occupied a few of the screens.

They were still safe.

Leaning back in the worn out leather chair, the young woman trained her violet eyes on each shadowhunter that she knew. Even though most of them basically lived on the road, going where they were needed, nine of them were permanent residents of the Institute of Los Angeles, which was a grand manor on a hill that overlooked the city. The manor was several stories tall and even had a dungeon, where most of the weapons were stored. The training grounds were down there as well, but the young woman never ventured down there unless it was absolutely necessary.

The dungeons spooked her. In addition to the major creepy factor, it was often cold and dank down there. How the shadowhunters were able to train down there was a mystery to her. Though, there have been several occasions over the past few months where the twins tried to trick her into going down there.

Edward and Evander were horrible to her. They say they loved her to death, but the young woman knew better; they were simply toying with her. After all, she was rather gullible from time to time, making her their toy until something shinier came along. Despite the fact they were huge pains in the ass, she fretted over them just as much as the others. They were the babies of the family even if they were possibly the least innocent.

Both only recently turned sixteen the month before. They were six feet and seven inches tall, but not awkwardly so. The twins were handsome with their bright green eyes, full lips, and dark hair that was often in every which way since they rarely bothered to brush their hair in the morning. From all the training, the twins, like the others, were lean and muscled.

Of course, it was only natural for the shadowhunters to look beautiful even if some had scars from various battles. The minuscule silver scars along with the runes marking their bodies made them look like the great warriors they were, making them more beautiful in her eyes.

The young woman quirked a smirk when she noticed that the twins had located her small camera and were making faces into it. They were on a tall building, often standing on the edge and acting as if they were about to fall over just to give her mini heart attacks. At one point, Edward spoke into the camera, even though the young woman couldn't hear a word he was saying. Fortunately, she was able to read lips.

'We are coming home, Iris,' he said slowly as Evander made more faces into the camera.

Iris wasn't her real name. It was a nickname the twins gave her when she started dying strips of her hair colors of the rainbow, and it just stuck. Soon, everyone started to call her Iris, which didn't bother her since she never liked her old name to begin with.

Rolling her eyes, she turned her eyes to a different camera and focused on the raven haired girl that had saved her from the demon the year before. She was sitting in a crevice between stone and glass of the U.S Bank Tower, looking down at the city from her high perch. Iris blinked, wondering how she was able to sit so high up without the fear of falling off.

Celia's hair was long, thick and darker than night. In her shadowhunter gear, she not only looked beautiful, but dangerous. If there was one perfect word to describe Celia, it was deadly. Whenever anyone crossed her, they lived to regret it for a _very _long time. The young shadowhunter was the oldest sibling in the family and the only one without a parabatai, but that wasn't unheard of.

Just then, Celia turned and looked directly into the small camera, her silvery orbs slightly startling Iris at first. Iris let out a sigh, knowing that Celia memorized exactly where each camera in the city was hidden; though, in all honesty, Iris made sure each inch of the city was covered in cameras just so she could watch over the shadowhunters just to keep her worries from turning her hair white.

Celia was saying something in the camera, making Iris blush slightly. 'Go to sleep, sweetheart. I am coming home,' she mouthed before standing up and waving at Iris. No, she didn't jump off the building and magically land on her feet. She was good, but she wasn't that good. Even Iris knew that despite how much she idolized Celia above the others.

No, Celia climbed up, most likely to take the mundane way back down to the ground. Since she was hidden from the eyes of the mundanes with glamour, Iris knew Celia would have no trouble getting home that night. Leaving the monitors on, Iris got up and made her way out of the room. However, instead of going to her bed, the young woman walked down the hall, towards the oak door that led into the grand foyer.

Her feet glided over the cold tiled floor that she had washed and polished not too long ago. The duty had fallen upon the twins that week, but they had managed to trick Iris into doing it for them.

When she walked in, the large double doors burst open as the three older shadowhunters walked in clad in black and dirt, one of them the head of the Institute. They were wearing big grins as usual, which was no surprise since they acted like children in adult clothing from time to time.

"Freeze!" Iris shouted, running in front of the adults to keep them from taking another step into the house. All three stopped, but more out of confusion than following the orders of a girl half their age. They looked at her, waiting for her to explain.

"I spent the last three hours cleaning this _entire_ manor," she explained, "I mean, really cleaned it. I even got to the attic _and_ the dungeons. All seven floors of this place are absolutely spotless. For the love of my sanity, wipe your feet before you walk in."

The eldest of three and the head of the Institute, Chloe Crenshaw, let out a laugh as she put her hands up as if she was surrendering to Iris. "Alright, Iris," she chuckled as she took a step back and wiped her feet on the welcome mat.

Chloe was actually quite old, being the grandmother of five shadowhunters and the adoptive grandmother of Iris. Unlike most grandmothers Iris have seen walking around, Chloe stood tall and proud. She was strong and agile for her age, but she knew her weaknesses just as well as she knew her strengths. Her slightly round face may have wrinkles and her hair may have turned from the rich dark brown to snow white, but those features were quite deceiving.

"You didn't have to clean the entire house," Calista Bernard, who was Chloe's daughter, sighed. She smiled at Iris, but at the same time slightly mad at her since she felt as if the young woman was doing too much for them when she didn't need to. "It isn't even your turn to clean up the manor. Edward and Evander are supposed to do it this week."

Calista was Iris' adoptive mother even though Iris told them countless times that she already had a mother; she just didn't like talking about her family. Though, with this family of shadowhunters, it was as if whatever Iris said would go in one ear and out the other, which forced her to give up at some point. Much like her eldest daughter, Calista's eyes were like the moon, big and silvery. Often, people would argue that her eyes were gray, but Iris knew they were silver since gray never shone so brightly.

Iris blushed slightly, biting her bottom lip. "Yeah, well, I lost a bet to them," she drawled, shrugging her shoulders. "But it really wasn't a big deal. I mean, I don't really do much around here when ya'll aren't around. While you're out there actually keeping this city safe, I'm stuck here just watching you guys risk your lives. Cleaning helps keep me panic less. It distracts me and trust me, living with ya'll, I need a good distraction to keep myself from absolutely losing it."

"What was the bet?" Dean Bernard asked as he wiped his boots on the mat before walking back in.

"Whether Shane was going to break up with Sophie or not," she replied with a shrug, "I bet he wasn't, they told me he was. We argued, and then I was stuck with this task since Shane is a womanizer. Except, replace searching for casual sex with casual make-out sessions. It's a surprise that he hasn't gotten mono yet."

"Hey, I take offence to that," said that deep, velvety voice that always made Iris' brain turn to mush as her heart rate increased.

Calista smiled at her son, but motioned for him to wipe his feet on the mat before walking in.

Trying to fight back a blush, Iris snapped, "Says the guy that is best friends with Jace Wayland, the infamous playboy."

"You're only saying that because your fling with him lasted a day," Shane quipped with a smirk. "Plus, Jace has fallen from the great ranks of bachelordom when he started going steady with that girl, what's her name?" His eyes were a silvery green, fitting perfectly on his handsomely sculpted face. His hair was dark and shaggy, but not in the messy. No, it was in that irresistible bad boy way, making girls throw themselves at him from every which direction.

"Not a fling," Iris argued, crossing her arms over her chest. "Not even a date. We met and talked for a few minutes... And I think her name is Clary."

"And this is where I retreat to my office," Chloe muttered as she walked up the marble stairs to the second floor. She waved a goodnight to the others, but Calista and Dean were not too far behind her since most of the bedrooms were on the second floor.

"Goodnight, children," Calista said, hugging both Iris and Shane before heading on up as well. Dean patted his son on the back before enveloping Iris in a bear hug. When he let go and followed his wife on up, Iris stood there trying to regain her breath from the tight hug as Shane laughed at her.

With a scowl, she reached out and hit his arm weakly.

Rolling his eyes, Shane muttered, "Ow, that hurt. You know what, I'm hungry. Did you cook anything today?"

"Yeah," she sighed; she walked to the other side of the room and pushed the swinging door that led right into the rather large kitchen. There was nothing to describe it since it was just like every other kitchen in America-pots, pans, knives, and food.

"Did you bake a cherry pie?" Shane asked eagerly, following right behind her.

Iris stopped and turned to look at him to see if he was being serious. "No," she said with a frown. "I only bake pies during holidays."

"How about you bake some now and pretend today is a holiday?"

"How about I stuff you into a pie and stick you in the oven?"

"I never knew you were a cannibal; I'm shocked," he said with a grin.

Iris stared at him, but didn't bother to say another word as she walked over to the fridge and pulled out a plate covered in plastic wrap. Once she took off the plastic wrap, she stuck it in the microwave and punched in the minutes before turning back to Shane. "Give it five minutes to heat up," she muttered as she headed to walk out and wait in the foyer for the other four.

Apart from Shane, Edward, Evander and Celia, there was one more Bernard child. He was the only male in the family that she was able to tolerate since he was more of the studious type than the fighting type. He was quiet and actually cared about how people felt rather than how they looked. He wasn't tricky as the twins or shallow like Shane. Though, in all honesty, he wasn't as attractive as his, but that didn't matter to any girls that happened upon him.

Where he lacked in looks, he made up for in being smooth. Something he learned from Shane.

"Thomas and the others should be home soon," Shane muttered, "Are there more plates in the fridge? I might as well warm all of them up so we can all eat together."

"Yeah," she replied with a wave at the fridge. "Top shelf. Five minutes each plate, Shane."

"I know, I'm not stupid," he grumbled, but just as Iris was pushing the door open to walk out, Shane asked, "You're joining us, right Iris?"

"Of course," she said, smiling lightly at the shadowhunter over her shoulder. Her violet eyes spotted the rune on his neck, forcing her to look away quickly and walk back into the foyer to wait for the others as she did every night they decided to go out on a stake out.

Looking around the empty foyer and making sure no one else was there, Iris reached up and touched her own neck, wishing she could have just one mark of a shadowhunter on her even if she wasn't one officially. Iris would never openly admit it, but she wished that she could wear the black gear and have her body covered in runes and silver scars.

Lost in her daydreams, she didn't notice the front door open until she heard the familiar clacking of heeled boots against the marble, bring her out of the small world where she was a shadowhunter like the rest of her adoptive family. Smiling warmly at her idol, Iris said, "Hey, how was the view of the city from the tallest building in Los Angeles?"

"Alright," Celia replied, shrugging as if it was nothing. However, she grinned at Iris, slinging and arm around her neck. "You know what would be spectacular right now, a piece of your cherry pie."

"You all have pie on the brain; what the heck?" Iris shook her head, raising her hands to massage the temples of her head.

Just then, twins entered with identical grins. "Where've you two been?" Iris asked with a frown. "You left before Celia."

"Pit stop." Evander shrugged. It was quite easy to tell the twins apart, and it was not because Iris knew them so well, or anything of that sort. It was because Evander had a birthmark on his left cheek while Edward's birthmark was on his right cheek. Oddly enough, Evander was right handed while Edward turned out to be left handed. It was just a few of the oddities about the Bernard twins.

"But…I cooked dinner," Iris said with a small pout.

"Oh don't worry," Edward chuckled, "we still have room for more food-"

"And pie," Evander finished with a grin.

"Why on earth would I bake a pie today of all days? I just finished cleaning the _entire_ manor and all you guys want are pies? Why?" Iris asked exasperatedly.

Just then, one more shadowhunter joined in, saying, "Because today marks the one year anniversary when Celia saved you and you joined our family, _Bethany_."

Iris looked past the twins and smiled lightly at the boy standing in the doorway.

Thomas walked in after wiping his feet on the mat; he stood in between the twins, who were now resting their arms on his shoulders as if he was an armrest. Though, as tall as they were, everyone was their armrest.

"Oh." Iris blushed slightly, realizing that it has been exactly one year since that day. Exactly one year. How…weird. It didn't feel like it has been a year, but then again, Iris was never good with keeping track of time in the first place. However, she shook her head, sending a glare to them. Placing her hands on her hips, she said, "So _you all_ expected _me_ to bake a pie when it should be you guys baking me the pie?"

The twins shrugged as if it was nothing. "Not our fault. You're the one that didn't realize what today was," they said in perfect unison, which was majorly creepy to Iris. If she didn't know better, she would have sworn that they were evil robots that were perfectly synchronized with each other.

"Maybe that is because I was busy cleaning the entire manor!"

"You lost the bet," Evander replied, pointing a finger at her.

"Bet? What bet?" Thomas asked, shrugging the twins of his shoulder as he began to make his way out of the foyer and into the kitchen where Shane was leaning against the counter and eating.

Iris sighed, "Whether Shane is really a man-whore or not."

"I wouldn't say man-whore," Shane said, motioning to the warm plates on the counter. "I'm a guy that can't commit to one girl for long periods of time."

"No, you stay with a girl until she has sex with you," Thomas argued, shaking his head, "That, brother, is a man-whore."

The twins laughed in agreement as they grabbed their own plates and began to eat. Despite the fact that there was a table in the kitchen, the shadowhunters and Iris stood by the counter, eating and talking happily.

* * *

><p>This world of shadowhunters is owned by the wonderful Cassandra Clare. I only own my OCs.<p> 


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